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DSS tapped for Ockawamick
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| Germantown Supervisor Roy Brown, chairman of the Workspace Utilization Subcommittee, facilitates discussion on the subcommitteeÕs final ideas for department placements Monday at 610 State St., Hudson. From left are Deputy Clerk Jackie Lydon (hidden), Supervisors Bart Delaney and Ed Cross, Public Works Commissioner David Robinson, and, far right, Board of Supervisors Chairman Art Baer. (Robert Ragaini/Hudson-Catskill Newspapers) |
15 departments may move to Claverack
By John Mason
COLUMBIA COUNTY — The county Department of Social Services has been slated to move to Ockawamick School, with a satellite office to be located in Hudson. The decision will not become final until it is voted on at the county Board of Supervisors monthly meeting 7:30 p.m. March 11 at 401 State St., Hudson.
But that vote is the only hurdle remaining to moving the agency that has generated the most controversy in the highly controversial plan to shift a significant portion of the county’s departments from Hudson six miles away to the center of Claverack.
The Board of Supervisors purchased the 77,000-square-foot former Ockawamick School on county Route 217 for $1.5 million Oct. 31, 2008.
The county Workspace Evaluation Subcommittee, after more than three months of brainstorming, interviewing department heads, debating and deliberating, approved tentative utilization plans for the four main county office buildings Monday afternoon. The plan then went to the Buildings and Facilities Committee, which also approved it.
Fifteen departments in all would be moved to Ockawamick, five would be housed at 325 Columbia St., Hudson and eight at 401 State St. Five-sixty Warren St., Hudson would remain virtually as it is.
Departments moving to Ockawamick would be:
n From 25 Railroad Ave., Hudson: DSS.
n From 325 Columbia St., Hudson: The Office for the Aging and the Environmental Health Division of the Health Department.
n From 401 State St., Hudson: Planning, Tourism and Economic Development, Central Services offices and storage, Central Printing, the Youth Department, the Veterans Office, and Facilities.
n From 610 State St., Hudson: the Public Defender’s Office, the Probation Office, Backup 911 and the County Historian.
n From 4303 Route 9: The Columbia County Economic Development Corp.
n From Route 23B: The Engineering Department.
n From Philmont: The OFA Nutrition Center.
The REACH Center, a non-profit agency aimed at eliminating sexual violence, may be relocated to Ockawamick from 4303 Route 9. In addition, the site would have employee exercise facilities, a classroom/training room, and short-term and archival storage.
The District Attorney’s Office would move to 325 Columbia St., along with the DSS Satellite Office, joining the Health Department, the Mental Health Department, the Health Care Consortium and Records Management.
Human Resources, Civil Service, Accounts Payable, Payroll, the Public Works Commissioner, the County Attorney, the Board of Elections, the Supervisors clerk, chamber, and committee room and the offices of the board chairman and board minority would remain at 401 State St.
The Department of Motor Vehicles, County Clerk’s Office and Records, County Treasurer’s Office, Data Processing, Real Property and storage would remain at 560 Warren St.
Discussion of the plan at Monday’s Workspace Utilization meeting focused mainly on the idea of placing the DSS satellite at 325 Columbia, which was the newest wrinkle in an ongoing debate.
DSS Commissioner Paul Mossman called it “an excellent idea.”
“I think it will be something that will minimize the need for folks to go out there [Ockawamick],” he said, adding it could be used in several ways, such as assistance with applications, screening for emergencies or distributing checks for adult services.
People could apply and be screened at the satellite, and, if found eligible, further contacts would be at Ockawamick. The goal, he said, would be to minimize the need for clients to go to Ockawamick.
Supervisor William C. Hughes Jr., D-Hudson4, just back from three weeks in Nigeria, was not impressed.
“This idea is ridiculous,” he said. People come in to DSS every day, he said, for $10 or $20 payment vouchers. The bulk of the clientele live within 2.2 miles of downtown Hudson. “This does nothing but put a Band-Aid on it.”
“The majority of the function of DSS will be at Ockawamick,” Board Chairman Arthur Baer, R-Hillsdale, said. “The satellite is the fall-back for people who are having a hard time getting out there.”
Supporters suggested the problems are not insurmountable.
“Paul has another two years to go across the state,” said Deputy Chairman Phil Williams, D-Livingston. “Some counties have three cities, and they worked out plans so these individuals are accommodated.”
Supervisor Ed Cross, D-Hudson2, said he was afraid the satellite would be deemed too expensive at some point down the road and be eliminated.
The satellite is currently estimated at about 500 square feet, Subcommittee Chairman Roy Brown, R-Germantown, said. Board Minority Leader Doug McGivney, D-Kinderhook, said this was too small. “I thought it was going to be a service area for DSS, but that’s a function of size,” he said.
Deputy Chairwoman Lynda Scheer, R-Gallatin, was frustrated with the arguing.
“The resolution can be amended,” she said. “This is just to get us out of this room and moving forward. We need to set the anchor stores.”
The anchor stores, she said, are the departments of Mental Health, Social Services and Health and the District Attorney’s Office.
“We need to step up and make the hard decisions,” she said, rather than sitting and bickering over “the finer points of how large DSS will be.”
Cross said, walking around the county, he had yet to hear anyone say a positive thing about moving DSS to Ockawamick.
Baer said he’d gotten similar phone calls, but when he asked the caller where in the city DSS should go without overburdening the taxpayers, there would be no answer.
Supervisor Bart Delaney, R-Hudson5, said it was inevitable DSS would go to Ockawamick, and that the Hudson supervisors should work together to “get the best deal we can with the satellite office ... Work with Paul.”
“I can’t go along with the program without saying, ‘Ouch, it hurts,’” Cross said. “I don’t think in this time period we should have bought anything; we need to keep DSS in Hudson.”
The layout presented to the supervisors had the Health Care Consortium at Ockawamick. Baer said he had wanted to keep it at 325 Columbia St., and Scheer said she had come to agree with him after talking with HCC Director Diane Franzen.
Baer suggested splitting Environmental Health out of the Health Department and moving it to Ockawamick, since it’s approximately the size of HCC, which would be kept at 325. Members agreed to that plan.
They also agreed that the Courthouse Annex would provide office space, computers, phones and teleconferencing that could be used by various departments and agencies, such as the District Attorney’s Office, DSS, Probation — that had business at the Courthouse.
Hughes suggested putting DSS at 325 Columbia, moving the Health Department to Ockawamick, with a satellite at 325, and the Mental Health Department to 610 State St. This, he would tell the Buildings and Facilities Committee that evening, would put all services within two walking blocks. But Baer said the sale of 610 State St., for $500,000 to $600,000, is part of the financial component of the plan.
All subcommittee members except Hughes voted for the new configuration.
When the resolution was brought before Buildings and Facilities, Supervisor George Jahn, D-Austerlitz, wanted to add the word “tentatively” to the proposal.
“These are moving targets,” he said. “I don’t want to imply they are chiseled in stone.”
“Some will have to be chiseled in stone pretty soon,” Baer said. “The principle of whether to put DSS in Ockawamick has to be decided now. [Public Works Commissioner] David Robinson has to get started [soliciting architects to design the building].” County Attorney Daniel Tuczinski said a new resolution could be adopted if need be.
Supervisor Joseph Finn, D-Hudson3, said he was voting no because he approves of “Plan B” which, as presented at a neighborhood meeting in Hudson by Mayor Richard Scalera, would require the construction of a new building for DSS at Fourth and Columbia streets in Hudson.
Supervisor Margaret Robinson, D-New Lebanon, also voted no.
She told the Register-Star that, “for the size of the facility and the number of people it services, this is one organization that needs to remain in the city.”
DSS, she said, provides services to an incredible amount of people; security would be needed on the buses and in the facility at all times, and this would involve extra costs.
Scalera, who has opposed the plan from the start, told the Register-Star he wasn’t surprised.
“They made their bed when they bought this building, and they feel they have to move forward,” he said. “It’s unfortunate the people most impacted will suffer, for 30 years getting on buses to transport themselves to a rural location will have an enormous impact on their lives and their families’ lives.”
To reach reporter John Mason, call 518-828-1616, ext. 2272, or e-mail jmason@registerstar.com.
By John Mason
COLUMBIA COUNTY — The county Department of Social Services has been slated to move to Ockawamick School, with a satellite office to be located in Hudson. The decision will not become final until it is voted on at the county Board of Supervisors monthly meeting 7:30 p.m. March 11 at 401 State St., Hudson.
But that vote is the only hurdle remaining to moving the agency that has generated the most controversy in the highly controversial plan to shift a significant portion of the county’s departments from Hudson six miles away to the center of Claverack.
The Board of Supervisors purchased the 77,000-square-foot former Ockawamick School on county Route 217 for $1.5 million Oct. 31, 2008.
The county Workspace Evaluation Subcommittee, after more than three months of brainstorming, interviewing department heads, debating and deliberating, approved tentative utilization plans for the four main county office buildings Monday afternoon. The plan then went to the Buildings and Facilities Committee, which also approved it.
Fifteen departments in all would be moved to Ockawamick, five would be housed at 325 Columbia St., Hudson and eight at 401 State St. Five-sixty Warren St., Hudson would remain virtually as it is.
Departments moving to Ockawamick would be:
n From 25 Railroad Ave., Hudson: DSS.
n From 325 Columbia St., Hudson: The Office for the Aging and the Environmental Health Division of the Health Department.
n From 401 State St., Hudson: Planning, Tourism and Economic Development, Central Services offices and storage, Central Printing, the Youth Department, the Veterans Office, and Facilities.
n From 610 State St., Hudson: the Public Defender’s Office, the Probation Office, Backup 911 and the County Historian.
n From 4303 Route 9: The Columbia County Economic Development Corp.
n From Route 23B: The Engineering Department.
n From Philmont: The OFA Nutrition Center.
The REACH Center, a non-profit agency aimed at eliminating sexual violence, may be relocated to Ockawamick from 4303 Route 9. In addition, the site would have employee exercise facilities, a classroom/training room, and short-term and archival storage.
The District Attorney’s Office would move to 325 Columbia St., along with the DSS Satellite Office, joining the Health Department, the Mental Health Department, the Health Care Consortium and Records Management.
Human Resources, Civil Service, Accounts Payable, Payroll, the Public Works Commissioner, the County Attorney, the Board of Elections, the Supervisors clerk, chamber, and committee room and the offices of the board chairman and board minority would remain at 401 State St.
The Department of Motor Vehicles, County Clerk’s Office and Records, County Treasurer’s Office, Data Processing, Real Property and storage would remain at 560 Warren St.
Discussion of the plan at Monday’s Workspace Utilization meeting focused mainly on the idea of placing the DSS satellite at 325 Columbia, which was the newest wrinkle in an ongoing debate.
DSS Commissioner Paul Mossman called it “an excellent idea.”
“I think it will be something that will minimize the need for folks to go out there [Ockawamick],” he said, adding it could be used in several ways, such as assistance with applications, screening for emergencies or distributing checks for adult services.
People could apply and be screened at the satellite, and, if found eligible, further contacts would be at Ockawamick. The goal, he said, would be to minimize the need for clients to go to Ockawamick.
Supervisor William C. Hughes Jr., D-Hudson4, just back from three weeks in Nigeria, was not impressed.
“This idea is ridiculous,” he said. People come in to DSS every day, he said, for $10 or $20 payment vouchers. The bulk of the clientele live within 2.2 miles of downtown Hudson. “This does nothing but put a Band-Aid on it.”
“The majority of the function of DSS will be at Ockawamick,” Board Chairman Arthur Baer, R-Hillsdale, said. “The satellite is the fall-back for people who are having a hard time getting out there.”
Supporters suggested the problems are not insurmountable.
“Paul has another two years to go across the state,” said Deputy Chairman Phil Williams, D-Livingston. “Some counties have three cities, and they worked out plans so these individuals are accommodated.”
Supervisor Ed Cross, D-Hudson2, said he was afraid the satellite would be deemed too expensive at some point down the road and be eliminated.
The satellite is currently estimated at about 500 square feet, Subcommittee Chairman Roy Brown, R-Germantown, said. Board Minority Leader Doug McGivney, D-Kinderhook, said this was too small. “I thought it was going to be a service area for DSS, but that’s a function of size,” he said.
Deputy Chairwoman Lynda Scheer, R-Gallatin, was frustrated with the arguing.
“The resolution can be amended,” she said. “This is just to get us out of this room and moving forward. We need to set the anchor stores.”
The anchor stores, she said, are the departments of Mental Health, Social Services and Health and the District Attorney’s Office.
“We need to step up and make the hard decisions,” she said, rather than sitting and bickering over “the finer points of how large DSS will be.”
Cross said, walking around the county, he had yet to hear anyone say a positive thing about moving DSS to Ockawamick.
Baer said he’d gotten similar phone calls, but when he asked the caller where in the city DSS should go without overburdening the taxpayers, there would be no answer.
Supervisor Bart Delaney, R-Hudson5, said it was inevitable DSS would go to Ockawamick, and that the Hudson supervisors should work together to “get the best deal we can with the satellite office ... Work with Paul.”
“I can’t go along with the program without saying, ‘Ouch, it hurts,’” Cross said. “I don’t think in this time period we should have bought anything; we need to keep DSS in Hudson.”
The layout presented to the supervisors had the Health Care Consortium at Ockawamick. Baer said he had wanted to keep it at 325 Columbia St., and Scheer said she had come to agree with him after talking with HCC Director Diane Franzen.
Baer suggested splitting Environmental Health out of the Health Department and moving it to Ockawamick, since it’s approximately the size of HCC, which would be kept at 325. Members agreed to that plan.
They also agreed that the Courthouse Annex would provide office space, computers, phones and teleconferencing that could be used by various departments and agencies, such as the District Attorney’s Office, DSS, Probation — that had business at the Courthouse.
Hughes suggested putting DSS at 325 Columbia, moving the Health Department to Ockawamick, with a satellite at 325, and the Mental Health Department to 610 State St. This, he would tell the Buildings and Facilities Committee that evening, would put all services within two walking blocks. But Baer said the sale of 610 State St., for $500,000 to $600,000, is part of the financial component of the plan.
All subcommittee members except Hughes voted for the new configuration.
When the resolution was brought before Buildings and Facilities, Supervisor George Jahn, D-Austerlitz, wanted to add the word “tentatively” to the proposal.
“These are moving targets,” he said. “I don’t want to imply they are chiseled in stone.”
“Some will have to be chiseled in stone pretty soon,” Baer said. “The principle of whether to put DSS in Ockawamick has to be decided now. [Public Works Commissioner] David Robinson has to get started [soliciting architects to design the building].” County Attorney Daniel Tuczinski said a new resolution could be adopted if need be.
Supervisor Joseph Finn, D-Hudson3, said he was voting no because he approves of “Plan B” which, as presented at a neighborhood meeting in Hudson by Mayor Richard Scalera, would require the construction of a new building for DSS at Fourth and Columbia streets in Hudson.
Supervisor Margaret Robinson, D-New Lebanon, also voted no.
She told the Register-Star that, “for the size of the facility and the number of people it services, this is one organization that needs to remain in the city.”
DSS, she said, provides services to an incredible amount of people; security would be needed on the buses and in the facility at all times, and this would involve extra costs.
Scalera, who has opposed the plan from the start, told the Register-Star he wasn’t surprised.
“They made their bed when they bought this building, and they feel they have to move forward,” he said. “It’s unfortunate the people most impacted will suffer, for 30 years getting on buses to transport themselves to a rural location will have an enormous impact on their lives and their families’ lives.”
To reach reporter John Mason, call 518-828-1616, ext. 2272, or e-mail jmason@registerstar.com.
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